apAdventures

Happy 5th wedding anniversary to us!

No big mileage trail runs or hikes this year to celebrate our anniversary. We’re laying low and staying close to home because it’s almost…BABY TIME!!!

Enjoy your life

We took a break from the woody construction last weekend to party it up in Las Vegas for April’s Aunt’s wedding. It was a blast. We linked up with Joe and Holly, toured the strip, lounged by the pool and had a great time visiting with family, new friends and partying in the Luxor. Congratulations Aunt Sarah and Uncle Tom!!!

After returning from Vegas we’ve decided to lay low at home for a little bit and not risk having to deliver a baby in the middle of the desert (where we usually find ourselves on the weekends). Now, I’ve focused my attention on finishing the new addition on the woody and April…well…I’m not going to say much but she’s secretly working on our full length DVD featuring Rocklands, South Africa. Soon…very soon…it will be available and in HD!!!

April and Baby

Congratulations Aunt Sarah and Uncle Tom! Luxor Hotel, Las Vegas

Heading up to the bride and groom’s suite after the wedding, to party

Holly and Joe, my drinking buddies

Ever since I started sending Martini climbs at Hueco this has been my drink of choice

Planet Hollywood, wow

Having drinks at a Luxor bar before the wedding

Holds are going up on our new 60 degree roof

Me, trying to demonstrate and give perspective to the size of the new addition

The baby is going to be psyched. This woody is awesome!

Posted by pjv

While temperatures have been consistently breaking 100 degrees here in the desert we’ve been doing more planning and talking about climbing than, climbing. So when April recently asked, “How am I going to get back in shape after I pop this little climber out?” I said, “Oh, uh, I have a few scraps of wood lying around. I can add onto the woody. In fact, I think the heat might have gotten to me because I got carried away. Here is the frame of “the arch.”

The new section will have a 20 deg kicker, 60 deg roof, horizontal roof and near vertical headwall. If the budget allows we are going to fill in a side with vertical climbing (so the baby can climb of course). You’ll be able to start from our existing 45 deg section and climb up and over the arch, or even traverse. All the slopers we had from our original woody will be back in action.

I just have to complete the thing when it’s 100+ degrees outside!

Posted by pjv

“Goin’ Vertical.” This is Paul’s classic phrase when standing under a route climb, tied into the sharp end, ready to ascend. We’ve all heard it, we all know it. Classic Paul. Problem is, it’s been soooo long since we’ve put a rope on that this phrase seems a bit old-school….or “80’s” as our friend Mike so bluntly put it – hearing it for the first time last weekend. Ok, so maybe that’s a bit exaggerated. It’s been a while since we route climbed, but not decades. I think our last roped adventure was Indian Creek…3 or so years ago. In the grand scheme of things, that’s not so long…is it? Well, if you compare it to 9 months of pregnancy, yeah it seems like forever!!

Which brings me to the “Why.” Why routes now? Why ditch the bouldering and have to deal with the bothersome logistics of gear, ropes and oh-so-boring belaying? Why? Because this chickie here ain’t havin’ fun on the boulders no more – that’s why! 16+ extra pounds with a big ‘ol belly in the way of my hand-foot-matches and abs barely strong enough to sit myself up in bed at night is just plain crampin’ my style! Yeah, that’s why! Solution: My fancy new full-body harness* and route climbing…err, easy route climbing, that is. And top-roping of course. Now let’s just see how much longer this full-body harness will fit me and the bambino….

Paul on Delirious, 5.12a Mt. Lemmon, Arizona

Paul belaying Holly on just another Mt. Lemmon slab. Bored?

Me and the bambino hanging out under the Enchanted Tower, New Mexico

The Enchanted Tower, NM

Boulderers in route climbing gear! Gah! We’re not in Hueco anymore, Django. Mike (climbing), Jeff, Paul and Raquel

Mike sending Humpty Dumpty, 5.12a at the Enchanted Tower, NM

My Morgie

Morgan’s buddy Django

Mike cleaning Rubber Mission, 5.12b after Paul’s send of the extension to the top of the Tower, Mission Impossible, 5.12d

A view from the Tower down to our cozy little campsite (see the van?)

posted by arr

* Note: For the non-climbers reading this blog, a full body harness secures the climber around the shoulders and legs verses the waist. Top-roping provides a method of climbing where you are secured to the rope at all times and do not fall when you let go from the wall. This allows the climber to continue to comfortably and safely exercise with zero impact to the belly.

For the last installment of bouldering photos from our Switzerland trip I chose Cresciano. This area is famous for the mega classic, Dreamtime 8b+/8c. However, since temps were a little warm our crew passed on attempting this one. We’ll save the world’s hardest boulder problems for next time.

We were lucky to visit this bouldering area several times and lucked out by staying dry as the weather threatened to rain us out. Each day in Cresciano left all of us tired from the many sends and the long list of projects we worked.

Enjoy…

Lots of slopers and compression climbing. Good stuff!

Chillin’ and smiles to go around

Fun Fun Fun

Here is what I mean by sloper. You have to squeeze.

Voci dalla cantina, 7b+

No name #4 in guide

Grit’s sequence on No name #4 in guide

Manu’s CRAZY sequence on No name #4 in guide

One of our favorites Toccami tutta, 7a+

Toccami tutta, 7a+

Toccami tutta, 7a+

Cool toe hook! Toccami tutta, 7a+

Hannibal Lecter, 7b+

After trying this on a million times I finally sent. Hannibal Lecter, 7b+

Ok…so we all had to at least hang off it: Dreamtime, 8b+/8c

Posted by pjv

A good hour drive away from our rustico was a place called Magic Wood. Famous for hard problems such as The New Base Line, The Never Ending Story, Massive Attack etc. Magic Wood hosts a large collection of boulders in a dense forest filled with ferns, moss and plenty of greenery. We only spent one day but managed to see hundreds of problems and try a dozen, at least. Unfortunately, we learned that our camera battery doesn’t hold an infinite charge and it only could keep enough juice for a few photos. From what we did sample, of course, we made a long tick list for next time.

Manu saying “No way dude, no holds on top”

Paul saying “No way dude, no holds on top”

The next picture is of a climb that I saw while walking down the trail looking for problems. From the ground the line looked amazing. Obvious holds up a tall face. Near the top it seemed like the holds get bigger. Only one way to find out…

Grit topping out. Yes, the holds are good at the top

Posted by pjv

Here is a little sampling of an area called Chironico. It was a little too hot to try anything super hard but there were plenty of easier problems to keep us busy. This spot reminded us of Cooper’s Rock, WV in many ways. However, there were a few hundred more problems than what Cooper’s has to offer.

Grit warming up on Weather Channel, 6c+ in the Boogalagga area

Grit on Shock Wave, 6b

Grit on Shock Wave, 6b

Grit on Shock Wave, 6b

Grit on Matusalem, 6c+

Me, getting ready to go for the top

Whoaaa, hold on!

Grit on Mea culpa, 6a+

Manu on Mea culpa, 6a+

Goat – peeing on the ground near a problem I was going to do

April on Shock Wave, 6b

Me on Lemon Tree, 6c+

Scenery along the approach

A perfect place to relax, enjoy the surroundings and climb on fun boulders

Manu trying a classic, Selection Door, 7a

Posted by pjv

In need of a rest day adventure our climbing crew discussed the options: Shopping, going for a drive, hiking, relaxing, or picnicing. What we decided: All of the above with a trip to the Matterhorn!

Our adventure started with a 4 hour drive, winding through narrow mountain roads, passing through a portion of Italy, and finally a short train ride to the town of Zermatt, at the base of the Matterhorn. In our tour book Zermatt is a town that is described as a place “to see and be seen.” For us climbers it was the obvious place to go. Gucci stores, expensive food and a tram ticket that cost about $100.00 per person to ride up to a vista point. After a few seconds in town we quickly decided on a more affordable way to enjoy the natural beauty of the Matterhorn: Go to the grocery store, get a few snacks and have a picnic in the grass with a perfect view of the mountain. Oh, and if we were crazy enough to have bought the tram tickets we would have arrived at the vista right when clouds blew in, completely blocking any views of the upper portion of the mountain.

Our picnic spot below the Matterhorn

Driving across the border to Italy

Italy

3km? More like 300km of winding roads and being car sick

Waiting for the train to Zermatt

Waiting to see the Matterhorn aboard the train

Walking through Zermatt

The Matterhorn towering above Zermatt

Walking to our picnic spot

Heading out of town, getting away from the Gucci stores

The view from our high point along the trail

Window shopping with an appetite (dangerous!)

Driving our car onto a train to ride through a mountain. Wow! The Swiss have it figured out.

Car on train

Driving over the St. Gotthard pass looking for any signs of the summer time bouldering spot

Still driving on winding roads through more mountains

Mountains!

Mountains, more mountains!

Beautiful mountains!

Posted by pjv

For our trip to Switzerland we decided to travel light and not take any camping gear. Similar to the gites in France and the cottages we stayed at in South Africa, Switzerland has its own version of chalets called Rusticos which make for a nice alternative to camping. These stone houses all over the mountain sides have been renovated (from their original purpose of housing farm animals) and make for a great cozy place to make basecamp. They aren’t the cheapest option but we justified it by saying that we were paying for the excellent view in addition to the cute house.

A view of the entrance to our Rustico

The view standing in front of our Rustico

The kitchen

Grit and Manu walking from the car with goodies from the store

The view from the porch

Our daily breakfast routine

Making coffee

Our friends relaxing in the yard

Here is the first installment of photos from our sampling of Switzerland’s bouldering. I say sampling because we only had two weeks to spend. It actually worked out perfect because we had great weather and were able to pack in each area on our initial tick list.

The first area we visited is near Brione. If you are a climbing video junkie and 8a.nu reader you may recognize some of the photos. This area is breathtaking! We were instantly blown away by the beauty of the surrounding mountains and the vibrant green all around. There is not yet a published guide for this area (probably to limit crowds because the area is close to a small village) but we were lucky to get a small tour by our friend’s friend.

One of the most beautiful climbing areas in the world 

The approach trail to the boulders 

Walking out of the forest into a meadow near the boulders 

Part of the approach involves walking past these mountain homes 

Grit – Sending, with style, the little Matterhorn problem 

Paul – Entranced by the beauty of this colorful problem 

Grit – Topping out a fun little warm up 

Manu – Hurrying to warm up and try the other amazing lines 

Grit – Working out moves on a slopy traverse 

Manu – Topping out the slopy traverse 

April – Working the moves of the slopy traverse 

Grit – Climbing for the photo crew on the Little Matterhorn problem 

Chillin’ by Grit and Manu’s VW Caddy 

Finishing the day checking out problems by the river 

Posted by pjv